Poet's Voice and Craft

Poet's Voice and Craft

by Chris McCully (Editor)

Synopsis

How does a poet go about writing poetry? Chris McCully, himself a poet and teacher of poetry, put this question to thirteen of Britain's most distinguished practitioners, who discuss in these informal essays the techniques of writing poetry, how they structure their writing-the choice of words, sounds (phonology), metrics (or non-metrics), and some of the processes of poetic genesis and re-writing. Each poet was sent a set of guidelines and their individual responses demonstrate the vitality-and difficulty-of `writing poetry'. Readers interested in the languages of modern poetry will find this first-hand testimony a revelation; fellow poets will find much to stimulate reflection; those concerned with poetic trajectory will find conceptual variety; and those curious about how poems come to be written and revised will find a shrewd, acknowledged witness.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd
Published: 18 Feb 1994

ISBN 10: 1857540204
ISBN 13: 9781857540208

Author Bio
Chris McCully, despite being charming, talented, and a recovering alcoholic, is still Senior Lecturer in English at Manchester University. He currently lives in Amsterdam, and is to re-marry in June 2001. There is no causal relationship between these surprising facts. Now, in his mid-40's, and wearing the same vaguely stained cocktail jacket, he is trying to persuade the world of the value of the quieter virtues (listening, reading, music, gardening, and fly-fishing, though not necessarily in that order). The world, as expected, largely ignores this persuasion. McCully's intellectual interests are beginning to range even more widely, from Old English poetry and prose to the formal rigours of Optimality Theory; from Dante through Erasmus to Heidegger. In short, he is what university appointments committees scorn as 'a generalist'. Nevertheless, his work, both poetry and prose, continues to win awards, and despite his dubious taste in fishing-hats and puns, he shows no signs yet of going away. His works on phonological theory, English stress, Old English, and the history of the English language have been issued by, or are forthcoming from, Cambridge University Press, who also produced his co-edited text English Historical Metrics (1996). In 1993 he won the Caedmon Prize for `poetry in Old English'. He edited the critical anthology The Poet's Voice and Craft (Carcanet, 1994). His other major interest is represented in Fly-Fishing: a Book of words (Carcanet, 1994).